Light
by mint.and.chocolate1
Summary: Rey thought she only had to find Luke Skywalker for the Resistance to win, but she didn't expect for him to refuse nor could she predict the connection that bounded her to the Dark Side. Back in the base Finn struggles with the injuries caused by Kylo Ren while helping Poe complete a new mission involving the First Order that could destroy the Resistance.


**Hi everybody! So I recently went to see the new Star Wars and, suffice to say I loved it! I wanted to write something but I have been going through writer's block and this is the best that I could manage. Don't you just hate it when you have a story to tell but your brain won't cooperate? Anyway I hope it's not too terrible but let it be known that this is not exactly my best! Still, I hope someone can enjoy this story.**

Rey was beginning to realize that this could be act that defined it all.

When she had set out to find Luke Skywalker, she had done so out of the determination that she was doing the right thing. So many people had died in order to retrieve that map, so many people wanted to find his location that she had barely given it a thought when she promised General Leia that she would find her brother.

It was the right thing to do.

But in all her adrenaline, all her search and sorrow she hadn't truly considered what it would mean to find the last Jedi. As she stood at the top of that too-familiar hill, with the wind blowing wildly lose strands of her hair and her hand outstretched with his lightsaber, Rey was beginning to see the magnitude of what this would entail.

A new order of Jedi, an end to the First Order, to Kylo Ren, to the Dark Side even. If Luke Skywalker was willing to return to the Resistance and teach a new order of Jedis how to defeat the dark side it could mean the end of the war, forever. Light winning over darkness. It all lay in the hands of the man standing in front of her.

And he had just said no.

"Wh-What?" She asked, startled. She couldn't have heard right, she wished she hadn't heard him say those words. Rey had never truly considered the fact that he might refuse to come with her, back to his sister and to fight the darkness. It was the right thing to do.

The Jedi's eyes were casted downwards with sadness, she could tell he didn't want to hurt her but he was refusing to fight nonetheless.

"I'm sorry Rey, truly. But I can't go back, not after everything that has happened."

Something about that sentence bothered her, but she focused on keeping her despair at bay. She had to convince him to go back. "But, the Resistance needs you! You can put an end to this, you can train new Jedi so they can fight for what's right." _You can train me_ , she wanted to say more than anything, but she kept that to herself. The most important thing right now was to take him back home. "The galaxy needs you."

"What the galaxy needs, I can no longer offer. I am sorry you came all this way for nothing but I am not the man I used to be. The darkness that is taking hold now is of my own making, and I am afraid that if I try to help I will only make matters worse."

"You mean-" She stopped middle sentence before she said his name.

Ben

Such a normal name for such a monster. What would the Jedi feel if he heard his nephew's name again?

To say that Rey had been surprised when Han Solo called Kylo Ren his son, would be an understatement. His and General Organa's son. Ben Solo had turned to the Dark Side when he was a teenager, destroying Luke Skywaker's order and his own family in the process. How could someone so evil come from people so loving? For Rey, Kylo Ren was the proof that some people were simply born evil, and after killing his own father when he had risked his life to take him home, the monster had destroyed any chance of salvation he may have had. He had to be ended. In the back of her mind she asked herself if Luke Skywalker knew about his friend's death, the same way General Organa had known without anybody telling her, but to bring that up in that moment could work against what she was trying to do, so she changed tactics.

She needed to convince him he was wrong, that the resistance still had a chance to fight and reminding him of the nephew he surely loved and broke his heart wouldn't help with her cause. There was another reason, however, for which she didn't want to call that monster by that name; Rey didn't want to think that anybody could be a monster and it was easier to think about him as Kylo Ren, the monster with the mask.

"Kylo Ren was not your fault, what he did he did it on his own. Your sister knows that and she doesn't blame you, so why do you?"

At the mention of his name, the Jedi's eyes focused back on her. Despite her best efforts his mention had still rattled him, and a set of conflicted emotions ran through his face; shame, fear, anger, disappointment, hope. It was all mixed there, one swirling after the other, none ever settling entirely, and before he could shake his head and say no again, before he was back to memories of the past and of what could have been, she spoke again:

"I don't believe you have given up." She said confidently, taking a step towards him, his lightsaber now at her side since it seemed like the mere sight of it caused him pain. "If you had wanted to disappear, if you truly believed there was no hope left then you wouldn't have left that map behind and I wouldn't be here now." Rey could see his resolve fading, how he fought with her words and demons inside his head and hope surged inside of her. She waited for him, letting him make his own decision. He had driven himself into seclusion because of his nephew, because he believed it was his fault that he turned to the dark side, but if he could see that he was the only chance the galaxy had, then he surely had to change his mind.

For a moment, Rey was sure he would say yes. She let herself believe that he would change his mind and that he would start fighting, but after seconds that seemed like hours, the old man shook his head, and the small smile that had crept up on her lips crumbled.

"The reason why I left that map… it was too long ago, too many things were different and I thought there might still be hope for balance but now everything is different. There is no hope for change, not by my hand at least. Whatever I try I would make it worse. I'm truly sorry but your search was for nothing."

She listened quietly at hat he had to say but in that moment something akin to rage started to take over her and she snapped. If he couldn't see how the galaxy needed his knowledge then she would make him see.

"You think that what happened was your fault," she didn't bother this time to hide her frustration, "no matter what your sister or the resistance tells you, you believe that everything that happens is because of something you did, well in that case help make things right. If you think this was your mistake, fix it! You believe there is nothing you can do but the entire First Order is trying to kill you, no offense, so clearly they believe you are a threat. They have killed thousands, millions of people, destroyed an entire system because they were with the resistance! So many people have died and risked their lives to find the precious map you left behind and now you are telling 'ups I'm sorry I changed my mind'? No, I'm sorry sir but you know what? Too many people have died to find you. We'll be defeated when all of us are dead, but until then you'll have to come with me and teach the resistance about the force and all of that Jedi thing that the enemy is so desperate to eradicate." She took a long breath, trying to calm herself before adding:

"Besides," she said her resolve stronger, "I won't leave this place unless you come with me." She pointed a slender finger to Chewbacca and R2D2 waiting by the Falcon, "and my friends won't leave either. So unless you are willing to live with three annoying neighbours, I suggest you reconsider."

To her surprise the Jedi smiled, the rail skin around his eyes forming crinkles and Rey wondered when it had been the last time he smiled so honestly, in all his years of solitude.

"I am glad to see the years have not taken away your abilities of persuasion, Rey."

That comment startled her, letting her mind blank. What could he possibly mean by that? To speak as if he knew her? And that was when it hit her, that strange feeling she had gotten since they had started talking, from that first sentence he said; he had called her by her name, but she had never told him that.

The confusion must have shown on her face, for he carried on, realization hitting him too though not quite understanding.

"You don't remember me." It was a statement but it sounded more like a question and one of her own formed in her mind.

Had she met this man before?

 **What did you think? Too terrible? Too meh? Am I asking too many questions? Yes, yes I am.**


End file.
